Zombies of Mississippi

Mindless, shambling hordes incapable of speech who prey on the rapidly dwindling normals; ruthless demagogues who cling desperately to dominion over their tiny and insignificant corner of the Earth; a spectre of deadly and ever-present violence that looms menacingly over even the most trivial of disagreements; and isolated outposts of civilization which, though beset on all sides, hold on with grim determination despite an official support system that has collapsed beyond of hope of repair.

If "The Walking Dead" were set in the Magnolia State, it would be called "Tuesday."

Rubber Ducky, You're the One!

Sometimes you stumble across something that puts a smile on your face at just the right time.  Today I found an off-hand reference to 28,000 rubber ducks being lost at sea when their cargo container was swept overboard twenty years ago.

A search revealed that the ducks have crossed three oceans since going overboard in 1992, even becoming frozen in ice and slowly moving across the Artic before thawing in the northern Atlantic.  They've even been used to help oceanographers better understand currents.  I couldn't help but smile at the thought of all those tiny rubber ducks bobbing along across thousands of miles of ocean currents

Blah blah blah indomitable blah blah blah.

Northern children more bigoted than Southern counterparts, according to study

David Wagner, who is no doubt from the north, presents the results differently, but a University of Chicago study of children's perceptions of accents revealed ignorance and bigotry in young children from the north, and neutral attitudes from children in the South.  

I would be extremely curious to know what type of accents were used.  A Chicago accent is less harsh than a Boston or northern New Jersey accent, just as a Carolina accent is more mellifluous than the dialect of southern Mississippi.

It's interesting but not surprising to learn that by age 10, the Southern children in the study have internalized the same misperception that permeates our media and popular culture.  At least the Southern kids didn't learn it at home.  Damyankees.

Conundrum

The same thought is simultaneously preserving my sanity and driving me crazy.

Brainnnns!

I immediately fell in love with the quote explaining why I write that now headlines the site. Whether the topic is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, the writing process forces me to organize my thoughts and often helps clarify ideas or beliefs that would otherwise remain hazy and nebulous.  Lately, I have worried that I am so preoccupied with the demands of a job that forces me to careen from one crisis to the next that I am not thinking.  I feel like I am in a cycle of Eat-Poop-Sleep, with little time to reflect or grow.  Part of that is the insatiable demands of adults in the community, and part is the dearth of adults with whom I can engage in in-depth conversations.  I worry that the fault also lies with me.

The fault always lies at least partially with yourself.  I just mean that I am at fault not for failing to establish clearer boundaries (though I am), nor for failing to travel farther afield to cultivate more friendships (though I am), but at fault in the sense that there has been some sort of fundamental shift in my thought processes that has led me to become a more facile thinker incapable of sustained reflection.

I don't think that is it, and yet here I am writing it down.

Love Thy Neighbor

I currently have a horrible neighbor.

My school has a rival at the other end of the county.  This school is not a friendly rival.  Both schools were founded as white flight academies around 1970, when Mississippi was in the throes of a painful and much resisted period of integration.

My school has begun to fitfully move beyond that history, while the rival is ardently committed to its exclusionary history.  Our student body is currently 10% non-white.  This is an all-time high in a county that is 70% black.  I have witnessed horrific racial epithets hurled from adults towards some of our students, even in junior varsity girls' competition.  Every time, the officials, who are also longtime veterans of the academy association, have unfortunately been "out of position" to hear the insults. 

Throughout the spring and summer, patrons and employees of the rival school spread rumors designed to hurt our school.  These rumors run the gamut from fabrications about school politics and discipline, to untruths about my personal life and personal slurs on board members, to claims that our school is wantonly violating state policy. 

Enrollment is down 10% this year, and many of the departing parents have been some of the most vicious critics.  The implied message behind every nebulous complaint about "the direction of the school" or "the caliber of student" is that our school is about to be "overrun" by black students.  Sometimes that message is explicit, as when one departing mother told the mother of a returning student that her 7th grade daughter was "going to be raped in the parking lot."

How do you love people who are so unlovable? 

Miller's Crossing Line that Jumped Out at Me

From female lead to male lead: "Maybe that's why I like you, Tom. I've never met anyone who made being a son of a bitch such a point of pride."

I don't pride myself on being, or even believe that I am an SOB.  However, I do have a stubborn streak that sometimes causes me to ignore the internal voice screaming, "Don't say that!"

He hits you because he loves you

What could possibly be wrong with an entire genre devoted to brooding, violent male love interests who don't really want to be bad, but are misunderstood by everyone but the teenage protagonist? All girls should read as much of this as possible.

This section was larger than the area devoted to Christian theology.

My favorite parts of Twilight are when she has to constantly apologize for tripping or otherwise being awkward - because that's not normal for teenagers of either gender, and any adolescent girls that display such behavior should immediately seek forgiveness and validation from the nearest male.

That, or the times when he almost kills her.